Name: Carmela Surname: Filetti Class: 3CL

ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK

AUTHOR: JONATHAN SWIFT

TITLE: GULLIVER’S TRAVELS

1. THE WRITER (Write shortly about his/her life and works)

The author of this fantasy is Jonathan Swift. Born in Dublin in the XVII century, after his studies at
the Trinity College he became a secretary and entered in political world. However, he wasn’t very
happy of the way his career was taking, and in 1694 became a minister of the Church. In 1713 his
popularity grew, sustaining local charities as the Dean of St. Patrick’s in Dublin. However, his
behaviour became really strange at the end of his life, and for centuries lots of writers didn’t
appreciate his vulgar stories, or at least until 1900.Swift died in 1745.

1. THE PLOT (Short narration of the events).

Narration starts when Lemuel Gulliver, left his studies in medicine, decided to become a ship’s
doctor and began his work on a ship, the “Antelope”. One day, it happened a great storm in the sea,
the ship began to sink, and apart the protagonist, all drowned. However, he saved himself from the
danger, reaching the coast after a lot of hours. The next morning, when he woke up, he saw himself
all tied in ropes. He immediately saw hundreds of tiny men around his body, who put him on a big
machine to take him to their Emperor. He made lots of friend among the people of that country,
Lilliput, and the Emperor himself, who helped more and more times. Travelled on other three lands,
after a little break in England, someone offered him a ship, the Adventure, for his last journey. He
stopped in Barbados but there, pirates stole his ship and, instead of people, he found horses which
could talk and think really wisely. Then, he came back home to his family and had other travels.

2. When and where does the story take place?

Swift’s book is set in the XVII century, but we don’t know in which year exactly Gulliver was born
and when the story started. On the other hand, we can recognize simply the setting in place: his
adventures began in England. Starting in this point, there is a succession of characters and places,
all set in an imaginary and fantasy world, from the country of Lilliput to the land of the wise horses,
the Houyhnhnms, and then back again to the homeland.

3. THE CHARACTERS (List the main characters of the play; describe their physical
appearence and personality, if possible)
Firstly, we can describe our protagonist, Lemuel Gulliver, a young man of modest conditions who
studied medicine at University and after decided to become a ship’s doctor. We can extract his
behaviour and way of thinking easily because he wrote in first person. He was a very curious
character and had a strong will to travel by sea, despite all the dangers he could find on his way.

In the first adventure he sees the emperor of Lilliput. He at first appears an ideal prince, in fact he
receives Gulliver kindly at his court. However, immediately after this, the emperor turns against
him, revealing an ungrateful and tyrannical side to his nature. When Gulliver refuses to help the
emperor to enslave Blefuscu, the emperor agrees with his ministers that he should first be blinded,
then starved to death.

Another important figure is the unnamed farmer in the Land of the giants, who initially treats
Lemuel kindly, but soon became avaricious and starts exhibiting him for money.
The farmer’s nine-year-old daughter is called Glumdalclitch, or “little nurse”, by the protagonist.
She is kind and affectionate, the only one of the farmer’s family who seems to care for Gulliver.

At the next court of Brobdingnag, the queen is kind and motherly. She treats Gulliver as a pet and is
indulgent in providing entertainment for him. Despite her sense of humanity, her dwarf is generally
malevolent and usually mistreats Gulliver.

On the flying island we meet Lord Munodi, who is a former governor of Lagado and is a great and
wealthy man. However, he is regarded as a fool by the people of Laputa and Balnibarbi because he
prefers to apply knowledge practically rather than consider it in abstraction.

In conclusion I can say few things about an important character: The Houyhnhnm Master, which is
not named or given any individual characteristics and is the main representative example of the
Houyhnhnms, a country populated by temperate, virtuous and very rational horses.

NOW GIVE PERSONAL ANSWERS:

1. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER AND WHY DO YOU LIKE HIM/HER?

My favorite character of the story is surely the old magician and Governor, that Gulliver met on the
little land of the ghosts, Glubbdubrib. I liked him a lot because he was one of the few who were
interested in his travel around these little fantastic realities, but not only for this trait. I chose him
especially for his powers: in the tale he could make his servant ghosts appear and disappear, and
between them there were some kings and politicians of the past too, such as Alexander the Great or
Hannibal. I loved this quality so much because I’ve always desired to talk with a famous character,
in particular with the two ones I’ve written before. I want to know how much responsibility they
had and how they always behaved, in the worst situations too.

2. DID YOU LIKE THE STORY? WHY OR WHY NOT?

I didn’t like the story mainly because of its literary genre, the fantasy, and, although adventures
were really interesting, I wished a more serious tone in some chapters. While reading, I can say I
loved more sequences of dialogue than the narrative ones, because with characters ‘participations in
the tale, I believe the author wanted to give us a personal reflection on human vices and virtues, on
our qualities and defects, not unlike the 1400 morality play.